Old sweatshirt

Last week we took Trent to the college where Christine and I met. We bought the little guy a sweatshirt for the fall. Good thing, I said a few days later, because I spotted a Phillies sweatshirt that Christine would have grabbed for him if he didn't have one already.

Upon closer inspection of the fall line of Phillies garb, I noticed an Angels T-shirt. We enjoy it when a random team shows up in our local stores. I flipped it over, wondering if it was a Jared Weaver, Torrii Hunter or Howie Kendrick.

How about none of the above?

It was Vladimir Guerrero, who hasn't played for the team in two seasons. I walked away with pride that we found something older and staler than our blog.

Nobody sleeps if nobody hits

The Red Sox and Phillies are playing late games on the West Coast this week. For no reason, I teased Christine last night that Trent wanted to be woken up if Josh Beckett were pitching a no-hitter.

Sure enough, when I flipped on MLB Network to check the score, they did a live cut-in to Anaheim where a story was brewing - Josh Beckett had a no-hitter into the 6th inning. He immediately gave up a little bloop infield hit.

But, no worries, the network quickly switched to San Diego, where Roy Oswalt was working on his own no-hitter. I didn't bother to watch. It was late. I was tired.

Besides, as I told Christine, who was worried about staying up herself, he had thrown nearly 80 pitches and there was no way he would pitch a no-no.

"But there could be a combined no-hitter," she countered.

There wasn't. Oswalt gave up a hit in the 5th and combined with three relievers on the 3-0 shutout. Beckett, who may actually be back this year, gave up two runs in eight innings, but had to settle for a no-decision in the Red Sox 4-2 11-inning win.

YES (again)

Cue the Suzy Waldman dramatics.

Put the YES camera crews on call for an instant Yankeeography.

Have Howard Rubenstein draft a missive from George Steinbrenner. Um, too late for that one.

But I hope The Trentonian headline writers are feisty because Roger Clemens was indicted for lying to Congress. I know I shouldn't be so gleeful about my once-hero falling so far down, but I can't help myself. Besides, it couldn't happen to a bigger jerk.

See you in 30 years, Rocket.

Another item of note: Jarrod Saltalamacchia might have a staph infection. He's on the DL. That's the fourth Red Sox catcher to be disabled this season. Incredible.

Tonight's games: The Phillies and Red Sox tried to finish off sweeps of California teams, but the Giants beat the Phillies 5-2 and the Angels beat the Red Sox 7-2. That win saved the Angels the indignity of going 0-10 against the Sox this year.

Root, root, root for the home team

Last night the Phillies fans cheered for Pat Burrell before he homered in the first inning. Some booed before his next at bat. The Phillies recovered, so it wasn't as bad as the time the fans cheered Jim Thome before and after he hit a big home run that set up one of the Phillies' worst losses of the season.

After they wrap up this Giants series, the Phillies welcome the Nationals with no former Phillies on the roster. Then, the Astros come into town. Nobody better cheer Jason Michaels, Pedro Feliz or Michael Bourn.

Today's games: The Red Sox beat the Angels 7-5, the Phillies beat the Giants 8-2. Things are looking up, but sometimes the higher you go, the lower you feel when things go awry, especially when you're to blame.

The more valuable SoxandPhils second baseman

Dustin Pedroia and Chase Utley returned to second base for the SoxandPhils tonight. I'll admit Chase is the better player, but Dustin has won an MVP award, and if you judge how their teams fared without them, it's clear the Red Sox dynamo is more valuable.

Since Pedoria last played on June 25, the Red Sox have been a middling 23-21 and have fallen 4.5 games further behind the Wild Card. The Phillies, however, went a torrid 26-17 since Utley last played on June 28, gaining possession of the Wild Card lead.

Granted, this is hardly a fair way to compare two players, but what I'm about to do is even worse: Since Trent came home, the Phillies have gone a baseball-best 23-11 while the Red Sox have gone 18-16.

Either he's been concentrating on the Phillies, is already obsessed with the Phanatic, or just loves his Mommy more than his Daddy.

Tonight, the second basemen took oh-fers, but that didn't affect their teams. The Red Sox beat the Angels 6-0, and the Phillies beat the Giants 9-3.

Brown delivers

After much speculation about trading Jayson Werth for a starting pitcher, the Phillies have a new right fielder. J-Dub's still a Phillie; he's just moved to center field because Shane Victorino is injured.

So the new right fielder is Domonic Brown. D-Brown had a memorable debut, going 2-3 with two runs and two RBIs as Roy Halladay pitched a complete game 7-1 win over the Diamondbacks. The run was Brown's fault as he dove and allowed the ball to bounce past him instead of taking it on one hop and preventing the run.

The postgame noted that this was the first two-hit game for a Phillie making his major league debut since Lou Marson in 2008. Christine and I were at that game. I wrote:

The 22-year-old went 2-4 with a two-run homer in the 8th. It took me a moment to figure out why fans were booing. (They're not booing, they're saying Boo-urns.) One day we'll tell the kids how we were at the big-league debut of the great Lou Marson.

Maybe it was a little overblown, but Christine told the Marson story to Trent tonight. It made me a little emotional, but pretty much everything makes me a little emotional these days.

The Red Sox finished off a four-game sweep of the Angels. That also made me a little emotional.

SoxandPhils involved in blockbuster trade

Well, not quite.

But what a coincidence that Dan Haren made his Angels debut Monday against the Red Sox and Joe Saunders, the other established major leaguer in the blockbuster deal, will debut for the Diamondbacks on Thursday against the Phillies.

In other pitching quirks, John Lackey starts against the Angels tonight while the Phillies faced their former mate Rodrigo Lopez.

The first game went well, despite struggles from Cole Hamels. Phillies 9, D-Backs 5.

The Red Sox and Halos are scoreless in the 2nd.

Divergence

Despite another rocky outing by Brad Lidge, the Phillies held on for the 5-4 win today, completing the sweep of the Rockies. Other than Lidge, things appear to be settling for the two-time NL Champs.

The Red Sox, meanwhile, are headed in the opposite direction. They're 4-7 since the All-Star break and have to face the Angels' new acquisition, Dan Haren, tonight. Things are going so poorly that people aren't even watching anymore:

The Boston Red Sox's six-year reign atop MLB's local television ratings is about to end, as the team's local numbers have plummeted from first to fifth this season.

Entering the All-Star break, ratings for Red Sox games on NESN have dropped nearly 36 percent from last year, for a 6.25 average rating.

The last time the Red Sox finished out of the top spot was in 2003, when the Mariners posted an 11.53 rating on FSN Northwest. The Sox averaged a 7.86 rating that year on NESN. This year, Red Sox ratings trail the Cardinals (9.70 on FS Midwest), Twins (7.85 on FS North), Phillies (7.20 on CSN Philadelphia) and Reds (6.52 on FS Ohio).

Christine has theorized that a bad Red Sox season wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing because it might weed out some of the front-runners and pink hats. I haven't given up hope, but if things don't improve, I'll accept that silver lining.

A complete game of life

Roy Halladay came to Philadelphia with great expectations. He has exceeded them and improved today to 6-1 with a 1.45 ERA in the Phillies 7-2 matinee win over the Cardinals.

But for the fourth time in seven starts, he failed to pitch nine innings. Doc is often seen as a throwback because of his ability to finish games. He leads active pitchers with 52 complete games - four more than Livan Hernandez, 20 more than Tim Wakefield and 21 more than Jamie Moyer.

We're talking completion today, of course, because another dominant righty for the Phillies, Robin Roberts, died at 83. I know they're completely different eras, but to put Halladay's complete games into context: Roberts had 45 shutouts and 28 consecutive complete games over two seasons.

The guy finished what he started. And judging by the eulogies, he led a complete life on and off the field:

"When I think of Robin there is definitely one word that comes quickly to mind: class. He was a class act both on and off the field. He was definitely one of the most consistent quality pitchers of all time, and the way he lived his life was exemplary. Every young baseball player should should model their life after Robin," Bill Giles, team chairman.

Christine and I don't have many personal memories, but we remember seeing him toss out the first pitch before a Red Sox-Phillies game in 2008. It was the 60th anniversary of his debut.

Awkward transition: From a pair of pitchers with 357 complete games to one who has ... one. And, Daisuke Matsuzaka probably won't be adding to that total tonight.

While taking a walk earlier, I told Christine that Boston's four-game winning streak would end tonight because Dice-K is pitching. I turned the game on in the 1st inning and he already had the Red Sox in the hole 4-0 to the Angels. But in the 5th, it's now 4-4.

We still miss Harry

The other day when we were putting mulch down, I had to hammer some bricks that line our front garden back into place. I thought of Harry Kalas because last year when I put those bricks in, I listened to his memorial service on the radio:

I listened to speeches from Jamie Moyer, Mike Schmidt and assorted politicians float from my garage to the front of the yard where I hammered bricks into the ground.

Now, I'll probably always associate Harry with that flower bed.

That's what I wrote on April 18, 2009, and it is true a year later. I can't weed whack that garden without hearing "Outtttaa heeeerrre!" OK, there's no audio in my head, but I do think of Harry a lot.

A couple days later, Christine and I finished listening to Harry Kalas "Voice of the Phillies," a commemorative tribute CD to the legendary announcer, as we drove down to Baltimore to see the Red Sox.

It was nice to hear his voice again from his time with the Astros and with Richie Ashburn, his Hall of Fame induction and the success of the Phillies in the final years of his life.

On the drive home from Baltimore, we heard the Orioles broadcaster. Their color guy was into self-deprecating humor like Larry Andersen, but it was forced and didn't seem to work. It was just another reminder of how baseball broadcasting will never be the same.

Shut up Wheels.

Full disclosure: Expecting a busy week, I wrote this before Ernie Harwell's death. Listening to the eulogies of the long-time Tigers broadcaster reinforces the reality that baseball broadcasters will never be good again. And it's also striking how similar the tributes for Harry and Harwell sound.

Tonight's games: John Lackey pitched a beauty against his former team. Red Sox 3, Angels 1.

Kyle Kendrick also pitched a gem - seven shutout innings. The Phillies beat the Cardinals 4-0.

[Photo credit: www.baseballvoices.com]

Philly phans

It's official: The Phillies have overtaken the Eagles as Philadelphia's favorite.

The Daily News conducted a survey to determine that 54 percent of the area's fans favor the Phillies compared with 30 percent who prefer the Eagles. The fans also gave 74 percent approval ratings to Citizens Bank Park and Charlie Manuel.

I know it's a combination of the Phillies recent championship run and the Eagles long-running championship futility, but I can't believe how times have changed since I first became acquainted with Philadelphia sports 15 years ago. The Eagles seemed like they would dominate the scene forever. Congrats to the Phightins'.

The most favored Philly sports traditions? Kate Smith singing "God Bless America" at Flyers games, the E-A-G-L-E-S chant and the Big 5. I'm surprised the Phanatic's antics didn't crack the top three. Booing came in 7th.

Coming in 9th: running onto the field and getting tasered.

OK, I made up that last one.

I'm just glad, and I know Christine is, that this episode has not devolved into another indictment of Philadelphia fans. Public opinion seems to view this as an isolated case of stupidity that was properly handled by the police.

Tonight's games: Marquee pitching duels.

You couldn't ask for much more out of Cole Hamels or Adam Wainwright. In the 10th, the Cardinals and Phillies are tied 1-1. Another dolt (why couldn't he be an Eagles fan?) ran on the field in the 9th as Hamels tried to finish a 1-0 shutout before giving up consecutive doubles. Not fair.

{Update: Carlos Ruiz just ended the game with a home run in the bottom of the 10th. Choooooch!}

Ervin Santana and Jon Lester were just as good, but in the 9th it's now Red Sox 5, Angels 1.

[Photo credit: Associated Press]

Doctor, Doctor

This is not about Roy Halladay, even though I recently learned he used to take the field as a Blue Jay to Robert Palmer's Bad Case of Loving You (Doctor, Doctor).

Nope, this is about another Phillies pitcher, one who won't be toeing the rubber anytime soon. Ryan Madson, who earned his Mad Dog moniker last week by breaking his toe when he kicked a chair after his last blown save, has to go under the blade.

Semi-related: Christine recently read on a Snapple bottle that the big toe has two bones while all the other toes have three. We found that interesting.

I'm sure Mad Dog is getting quite an anatomy lesson about the human toe during this experience.

Tonight's games: The Red Sox lead the Angels 7-4 in the 6th. I can't decide which joke to use: A) Man, the Angels are worse than the Orioles, or B) I wonder how the Red Sox plan to blow this one.

The Phillies got a decent start out of Joe Blanton, but Nelson Figueroa couldn't erase the jam he inherited in the 7th, and the Cardinals lead 6-2 in the 9th. Before the game, Christine predicted a typical Joe B start - four runs in 6 innings. He gave up four runs in 6.2 innings

Yankees = wusses

Instead of just adding "Look back at 2008" at the bottom of today's post, I'm going to lead off with it.

A year ago tonight, Christine and I were scrambling to prepare the house for a small party the next day while getting ready to watch the Phillies first home World Series game in 15 years. I remember the night vividly because there was torrential rain as I went to the store to pick up some last-minute items.

It was kind of reminiscent of last night's rain, except last October was much colder than yesterday's humid 60+ degrees.

The Phillies and Rays waited out the rain and then played a truly memorable game. Jamie Moyer gutted out 6 1/3 innings. We later found out that he had a sleepless night with stomach ailments. The Phillies won in the wee hours of the morning in the bottom of the 9th when Carlos Ruiz hit a ball to third slow enough to score Eric Bruntlett. The Phillies showed championship grit with the weather and the Rays, and pretty much set themselves up for the series win.

The Yankees found themselves in a similar position before last night's scheduled Game 6 of the ALCS. Did they wait out the heavy rain and then play in what were better conditions than what the Phillies and Rays (and Philly fans) suffered through last year? Nope, the game was called off hours before it started.

At home, I couldn't believe it when I hard a host on the MLB Network say "awesome" when they showed a clip of Andy Pettitte having a catch in the drizzle.

If he wants to see a truly "awesome" pitching performance in the rain, he should skip ahead to Thursday's look back at 2008 to review our recap of the first half of Game 5 of the World Series.

I still can't believe we sat through that crap. Christine can't believe that no one understands how bad it was. The Yankees and their fans certainly never will.

I hope New York wins tonight ... against the Arizona Cardinals.

Go Angels!

So glad tonight's schedule is AL-only

We try to schedule visits to my parents to coincide with occasional Saturday morning appointments we have in Trenton.

We have one today and had committed to seeing the folks before we knew for sure the Phillies would take care of business early. Thank goodness they did because Game 7 was scheduled for tonight, a game that was not necessary.

So we won't be listening to a very nervous Larry Andersen on the drive home tonight, but a nervous John Sterling.

We'll be home long before the game ends, but I hope Sterling has two more games this year, each ending with, "Thhhhheeeee Yankees lose. Thhhhhhhhhhhhheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee Yankeeeeeeeeeeees loooooooooooooooooosssseee."

Go Angels.

Look back at 2008: The Phillies didn't play on this date either as they made what would be their final road trip of the season between Games 2 and 3. I was nervous about how Christine would react if the Phillies dropped Game 3 and actually trailed in the series.

An encore of 2004 would be heavenly

What a game last night. Despite being wiped out, I made it to the last out. My eyes were closed, but I heard Brian Fuentes get Nick Swisher to pop out with the bases loaded to end the 7-6 Angels win and send the ALCS back to New York, where whispers of the ghosts of 2004 are already popping up.

New York Newsday columnist Bruce Matthews suggests that if the Yankees blow this 3-1 lead to the Angels, it could be worse than blowing the 0-3 lead in the great 2004 ALCS. I disagree just because of the teams involved, but sentiment aside, he's got a point:

Last night's 7-6 loss to the Angels - who suddenly seem to have remembered that their strategy of creating havoc on the basepaths works only if they actually get on base - did more than cut the Yankees' lead in the ALCS to 3-2.

It also raises the specter of another catastrophic failure, but for this one, there would be no excuse or any consolation. You see, these Angels are not nearly as good as the 2004 Red Sox. And these Yankees are a lot better than the 2004 Yankees. At least, they're supposed to be.

The New York Times suggests the odds are against the Yankees being the fourth team with home-field advantage to blow a 3-1 lead in a best of seven series. But no team had blown a 3-0 lead before 2004:

Five other times, Jeter's Yankees have been in this position, ahead by 3-1 in the A.L.C.S. Three times, the Yankees won the series in five. Another time, they won it in six. Then there was 2004.

Every pinstriped fan knows what happened then. The Yankees won the first three games against Boston, and lost the fourth game in 12 heart-stopping innings. They lost the fifth game, too, and the last two at Yankee Stadium.

I don't think the Angels will win both games in New York, but the fact that they're making the Yankees and their fans squirm is good enough for me. And they have made it close enough to stop us from talking as if we definitively know who will face the Phillies next week.

Red Sox: They continue to lose: Assistant GM Jed Hoyer is going to be the man in San Diego, and Brad Mills (a SoxandPhil) could be the Astros manager.

Look back at 2008: The Phillies lost Game 2 of the World Series - Christine's favorite Phillies loss ever because it guaranteed the series would last five games. (We had tickets for Game 5.)

Let's go Angels (until the PhilsandAngels Series begins)

When Jonathan Papelbon trotted out in the 8th to clean up Billy Wagner's mess, I asked out loud whether this was when Pap's perfect playoff ERA would come to an end.

Christine was sitting next to me, but I was really talking to myself.

Juan Rivera, hitless in eight at-bats against Papelbon, singled in two runs, but the 0.00 ERA, and more importantly, the lead were still in tact.

The Red Sox tacked on a run in the bottom of the 8th, extending their lead to two runs, but Papelbon failed. Unbelievable. The fans booed. Papelbon was removed mid-inning. He was upset ... at himself:

These fans don't expect any more out of me than I do out of myself. You know, I think they get so accustomed to seeing me do what I do. And when I don't do what I do, I think it's kind of like, "Well, why didn't he do that?"

In the bottom of the 9th, Christine kept reminding me that I predicted the Red Sox season would not end today. I stood by that prediction through the inning - until the season ended with a 7-6 loss to the Angels and a first-round sweep.

{Sorry, Greg, for being so right on that prediction.}

Despite being eliminated before the Yankees for the first time since 2006, it was a decent season. Our expectations were higher, but being sour about a 95-win season is something only a Yankees fan would do. This wasn't our year, but we'll reload and be ready to compete in 2010.

Meanwhile, I congratulate and support (assuming the Yankees finish off the Twins) the Angels. They dominated us, and if they play the Empire, I hope they beat them just as soundly. But after that, they'll be the enemy again should they lock horns with the Phillies in the World Series.

Speaking of which ... SoxandPhils World Series in 2010!

I can't believe that I'm finishing this post, and it's still one hour until game time. I'm not going to make it - especially considering I dozed off when the Angels made a pitching change in the 8th inning of a game that started at noon.

At least Monday's game will be at a decent time - 4:07 p.m. or 6:07 p.m., depending on whether there is a Yankees-Twins game tomorrow. I'm hoping for the double header.

[Photo credit: Associated Press]

Snowed out

So a year after the Phillies began their World Series clincher in a monsoon, they've been snowed out. Game 3 will be tomorrow at 10:07 p.m. and Game 4 will be sometime on Monday.

You know what that means ... shopping spree!

How were many players spending the day? Going to the mall.

"What else do you do when it's snowing outside?" Werth said.

Um, J-Dub, when it's snowing, I clear off our cars, go to work and then shovel the driveway when I get home. Christine says she stays inside, but usually she makes it to work.

With the delay, J.A. Happ gets Pedro Martinez's start. Cliff Lee will start Game 4, and I assume, as long as the wife allows him, that Cole Hamels would pitch Game 5, if necessary.

I was thinking this morning, how weird has this Pedro Martinez experience been? He's gone from an intriguing and perplexing signing, to extraneous, to dominant, to forgotten, to playoff starter and then back to "why the hell is he on this team again?"

Red Sox: I made it to the end of last night's game, a 4-1 loss to the Angels, even though it was nearly 1 a.m. and I had to work this morning. Josh Beckett looked like playoff Josh until the 7th inning. He was locked in a 1-1 pitcher's duel with Jered Weaver until then.

Five years ago, I woke up Oct. 17 devastated. The Red Sox were one game from elimination without registering a win in the ALCS. I had to work at the shore that morning and conceded the series to the Yankees.

Coincidentally, work brought me to the shore this morning. But I don't feel as devastated despite the similar predicament. It doesn't look good for the Sox, but they won the ALDS in 1999 and 2003 despite falling behind 0-2. I don't think they're going to pull this series out, but by no means am I giving up.

I say with certainty that their season will not end tomorrow.

Speaking of tomorrow's game, which starts at noon, it looks like Terry Francona is over his tummy ache and has graduated from bananas and saltines to large quantities of salted pork and caffeine. Ewww.

Recapping one Game 2, while waiting for another Game 2 to start

I know this game recap is a bit outdated, but we had a busy day yesterday and I needed something to do while waiting for the Red Sox to start Game 2 and hopefully even things up with the Angels.

In past years when we were headed to a playoff game, even though it wasn't my team, I could not concentrate on anything but the impending game.

This year, not so much. I couldn't decide whether it was because we decided to buy tickets at the last minute or because this is becoming old hat. I settled on the fact that last year was so perfect (how many three-day World Series clinchers can you attend in one lifetime?) that I didn't want to run those memories.

It turns out that despite the 5-4 loss to the Rockies, we had a good time and I don't think it soured my memories of 2008. Here's our day:

Christine and I joked that it was the Budweiser Clydesdales that pushed her over the edge when she was torn whether she wanted to pay a premium for marked-up playoff tickets.

I'm not so sure it was a joke.

She had her picture taken in front of the horseys, but after making her blog pictorial debut earlier in the week, I don't think she was ready for another.

Afterward, I spotted a guy wearing a Cubs jacket. I don't wear Red Sox garb while attending a Phillies playoff game - unless we get tickets to the SoxandPhils series.

John Kruk tossed the first pitch to Milt Thompson. ... Jarrod Spector of Jersey Boys sang the anthem. I don't remember it so it couldn't have been too bad. {Greg may not have been paying attention, but the crowd really enjoyed it.} ... The sweet smell of roasted nuts - not sold during the regular season - permeated the stands. ... When they broke out Motley Crue's Kickstart My Heart in the 2nd inning, we thought the scoreboard guys weren't going to leave anything to chance, but then the music selection got really weak. They even broke out Bongo Cam at one point. But after Christine complained about it (to me) things picked up.

Before the 6th inning - the only frame featuring a Phillies rally - they started playing the pump-you-up montages. It started with a scene from Friday Night Lights followed by Welcome to the Jungle. In the later innings, they showed clips from Rocky II, Hoosiers and Miracle, with musical selections of the Rocky theme, more Crue, this time Wild Side, and something else that I neglected to write down in my notes.

In the 9th, it started with the apocalyptic Phillies montage followed by Are You Gonna Go My Way. Then, after a pitching change, they broke out Animal House and Rock and Roll.

But it was all for naught; not even the Phillies biggest cheerleader could rally the crowd. I think the playoffs require something a little better than the Phanatic in drag. Although, kudos to his umpire partner who lifted the big lug so the Phanatic could sit on his shoulders.

Our section was prominently featured on Phan-O-Vision all day. I first noticed it because a couple of rows in front of us were three women waving two signs: "Got Phillies Fever" "Trust Us, We're Nurses." ... The scoreboard might have caught me, but I didn't notice. I hope not because I was blowing my nose when it focused on a little girl dancing in the row in front of me.

We felt bad for the two children, the aforementioned dancing girl and a young infant, in front of us whose parents crammed into two seats. It was fairly cold in our section, which didn't get any sun. The baby was blue before they were seated and removed his jacket. ... Another big theme for signs was some variation of how it was "Werth it" to skip school for the playoffs.

J-Dub also got a Wayne's World style "We're not Werthy" from a couple of nearby fans. ... I couldn't believe how quickly the fans have turned on Cole Hamels and some of the other Phillies champions. One guy compared Chase Utley, who has never lit it up in the playoffs, to notorious October choker Alex Rodriguez. That guy, though, was an ass. Carlos Ruiz ended the Phillies lone rally by grounding into a double play on the first pitch. You'd think he was responsible for every little baby who has every cried and every little puppy with sad eyes. ... The guys in front of them were very loud, too. One guy kept standing up for no reason. But Christine liked him once the family with the chilly baby arrived and took his place as the most annoying fans in the section. ... Bunny Sigler sang God Bless America. He was well-received. I really liked his Phillies red suit he wore for the special occasion.

With just Paul Bako on the bench, I noted that Charlie Manuel had no one left to pinch-run for pinch-hitter Matt Stairs when he drew a 9th inning walk.

"Cliff Lee," Christine said, thinking of his stolen base on Wednesday.

"Hmm," I said. "That makes sense."

Sure enough, out he came. He took a really big lead as if he were going to steal again, but he stayed put and the Phillies couldn't drive him in.

Today's news: Pedro Martinez will start Saturday in the bitter cold; Cole Hamels had his boy, Caleb Michael Hamels; and Jamie Moyer has been in the hospital. (All in one Todd Zolecki post.)

Red Sox: They lost Game 1 to the Angels 5-0, but Jon Lester will be back for Game 4. Red Sox fans aren't too happy with CB Buckner. After some bad tacos, it's nothing but bananas and saltines for Terry Francona.

This was really our last game of the season

(Unless we actually win the lottery to buy World Series tickets. Found out today that we didn't win the right to buy for the NLCS.)

It was a good game despite the 5-4 loss to the Rockies, which snapped the Phillies eight-game home playoff winning streak.

It was a very unfamiliar feeling. Other than the 6th inning, when Ryan Howard and Co. (pictured here) scored three runs, the Phillies offense couldn't catch up with the Rockies pitching.

I never heard such a drastic switch between the cheers before the last pitch and the silence that followed.

On the way home, we stopped and enjoyed an Oktoberfest with our friends at the Mount Laurel Wyndam, the area's finest, and freshly remodeled, lodging establishment.

I'll have my usual detailed report tomorrow on the view from the stands, but it's time to be a Red Sox fan and watch their first game against the Angels right now. I have good vibes.

Shoe scum

Memo to Major League Baseball: As much as you'd like to forget it, the last two World Championships have been won by the Phillies and Red Sox, two teams that are on a collision course for the 2009 World Series.

But instead of getting the respect of a champion, our teams are being treated like something you'd scrape off a giant sneaker.

The Phillies, with the same schedule they got when they played the Rockies in 2007, will play their first three games when their fans are at school, at work or in bed.

The first two games are scheduled for 2:30 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday. Game 3 is scheduled for 9:37 p.m. Saturday.

What a crock. It's so bad that many fans are selling their tickets. Christine and I considered StubHubbing it for Thursday's game, but we couldn't pull the trigger on tickets that still would have cost $100 each after fees. Yahoo's game updates better be working well this week.

At least the Phillies know for sure when they'll be playing. The Red Sox still have to wait for the Tigers and Twins to sort things out before the Yankees announce which series they want. C'mon, does the opponent really make a difference as to which format you would select?

Anyway, everyone assumes the Yankees will opt for a series that will give the Red Sox 9:37 p.m. starts on Thursday and Friday against the Angels. That's about the time I nudge Christine to go to sleep. Within an hour and a half, she gives in, which means I might get to see three innings (at Red Sox playoff pace) before conking out.

They haven't announced times beyond Saturday, but I've heard that the Red Sox will play Sunday around noon and Monday, if necessary, at 8:37 p.m.

Case closed: In game 161, Brad Lidge found a new toy: a cut fastball. That will alleviate any 9th inning concerns.

Explanation: The picture above was taken during Sunday's game. Even the SoxandPhils photographer let her mind wander during the exhibition-like finale of the regular season. Actually, Christine just thought it was funny that when she looked down from our seats in the top row of the stadium, she saw a giant Phanatic sneaker with children sliding out of it.